While trying to be Quiet I ran into Myself.

I have recently become more aware that I am rarely quiet. I mean really quiet. I’m using the word quiet in its fullest sense here, not just the way we often do to describe a situation with little or no noise. I can be physically calm and unmoving without too much effort – in fact that is fairly natural for me in many ways! But when we start thinking in terms of being free of turmoil and agitation; tranquil and serene; fully at rest – that is another issue altogether! My mind rarely stops working, I love input and I tend to always be thinking in terms of how I can integrate and implement new ideas and information coming my way. To be fully quiet in all four quadrants of my life is very difficult, but I am determined to practice till I can sit quietly for a space of time and be fully at rest, tranquil and free from disturbance in mind, body, emotion & spirit.

So I intentionally set myself up for five minutes of four quadrant quiet. First I listened to a short piece of reflective music, after which I sat still, my hands folded on my desk and my eyes closed. My mind was free of clutter and I felt fully at peace emotionally and spiritually as well. I did okay at first. Then I had to check the clock. How long had I been able to be quiet? One minute! Okay, refocus…eyes closed; mind, soul & spirit at peace, at rest. Again doing okay… the sound of the paper recycler honking his claxon horn and calling out for used paper penetrates my reverie. I can ignore it for a while. Then I start thinking how I will document this experiment and what the barriers to quietness were. My mind slips into gear and starts racing ahead. I check the time and see that almost three minutes have gone by. Refocus… my mind once again still, my heart and sprit at rest. Hands folded quietly. Gwen is in the living room cleaning the glass top of the coffee table. Squirt, squirt, squirt, shweek, shweek. Nothing to do with me – ignore it! Four minutes gone. Finally I am able to clear myself again and sit quietly for the last minute or so. My five minute practice was over.

I intend to set myself to win this battle. Since being quiet is not natural for me, I will try to stack the deck in my favor. This is how I intend to do it:

• Time: Set aside a specific time for me to be quiet in every day. Yep, I mean in my calendar. A time that I have some control over – I think 10:00 am will do for a start. That’s at the beginning of my primary focus time every work day and so I already have the system in place for being undisturbed at that time. I will start with just five minutes and then see if I need to and can increase it later.
• Place: Where can I best be without external distractions? I need it to be somewhere easy to access otherwise I will put off this exercise. I’ll see how it goes at my desk since I need to be disciplined in my ability to close out everything anyway.
• Setting the stage: I think I will start each session with the same reflective and contemplative music. This will help me transition and refocus as I get into the process of quieting myself fully. Some kind of alarm at the end of the time will keep me from checking the clock.

Why do I think quietness is important to me? A number of things come to mind including being better able to refocus and being more in tune with the Holy Spirit who often speaks in a still small voice. I want to do this, and in many ways that is reason enough to set a goal for myself, to become more disciplined and at peace with where I am in life.

Let’s see how it goes! As William Arthur Ward said: “There are four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully. Proceed positively. Pursue persistently.”